Primal fears...

For whatever reason, I had always been scared of making a prime rib. I guess it's because it seems like a big investment to have turn out poorly, so the other day when I saw one on "manager's special (aka, buy me before I go bad) at supe's I was ready to finally face my fears. My plan of attack was a simple one: trim off some fat, smash some herbs and garlic on top and roast away. I was baffled by how ridiculously easy this was. I will recommend, however, that you pick up a probe thermometer like this, to make your life that much easier. Just set the desired internal temp and an alarm will sound when ready. couldn't be easier. Oh, and those potatoes that I used as a roasting rack...awesome. 1.5 hours of basting with herb crusted beefhunk made them crispy, beefy, potatoey...gurgle, gurlge...

Herb crusted Prime rib

hardware: roasting pan (or big skillet), probe thermometer (preferably with alarm, see link above)

3-5 lb rib roast

8 sprigs thyme, fresh

6 sprigs rosemary, ""

6 good sized garlic cloves

couple tbs olive oil

sea salt. black pepper

2 med. size potatoes ( i used klondike rose)

oven at 450F

mince garlic and herbs together until very fine, add to bowl with olive oil until thick paste forms. trim roast of excess fat (you still want a decent amount, just not the inches they leave on at the butchers.), salt and pepper generously, then add the herb and garlic rub to the top and the sides. Slice potatoes longways into thirds, trimming off round end so all sides have a square edge. Lay potatoes out on pan so roast can rest on top , see pic. Roast @ 450 for 10 -15 min., until a golden brown crust starts to form, then lower heat to 350 for the remaining time (prob 1.5 to 2 hours depending on size of roast and preferred doneness.) Eat delicious potatoes asap, share with a friend, if you are nice.

let roast rest about 20 minutes before carving.

DISH recommends:

Mastering Beef and Veal. A really, really, good book on beef/veal cookery. I consider this an indispensable book for the meat lover. The williams sonoma books that I have, I really like.